The earth is 4.54 billion years old. That’s a big number to wrap your head around. Spending time among very old things helps, but even then it’s easy to forget that not only the fossils themselves are ancient; so is the rock they came out of, the planet circling a sun that has been around […]
Just like clockwork, another year has rolled around and you find yourself in that same old dilemma: what to do for your child’s birthday? What should be a joyous time for you and your family becomes stressful and agonizing: the decisions, the planning, the cleaning! So be a Party Smarty and let the Houston Museum of […]
I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s reading books about the dinosaur “orthodoxy.” According to this traditional view, the dinos died out at the end of the Cretaceous because their beloved swamps dried up and the air became too cool. But the new conditions were perfect for us quick-thinking Mammalia, so we took over, along […]
“Attention all Dino-Nerds! Put Your Anatomical Expertise to Work. Prestigious Careers Await in the Field of Gastroenterology.*” Often, I get approached by parents who fret over their dino-fixated kid. “You gotta help us, Doc. All she wants to do is read about fossils. Will she ever find a respectable career in the real world?” I can […]
Editor’s Note: Sometimes, you ask us questions on Facebook or Twitter that require a bit more than just a pithy response. So .. we wrangle the experts to get to the heart of the matter for you. You’re welcome. Q: A write-up on another Diplodocus says that the forelimbs and hands on all the Carnegie […]
It’s the cult classic that launched a thousand fascinations with fossils. Influenced a generation of dinosaur devotees. Made you forever fear wilderness toilets, whether stranded on a prehistoric amusement park/island or just camping in Pedernales. Now Jurassic Park is back in 3D, and this, well, this you’ve got to see. And where else than at […]
We’ve been pondering the problem of Dimetrodon-on-Dimetrodon violence. It’s a Red Beds tragedy; fin-back reptiles were nibbling each other’s brain bones and gouging each others’ cheeks. But now, maybe, we have some evidence for the softer side of fin-backs: hickeys and love-bites. Here’s a scientifically precise reconstruction of one fin-back smooching another on the back […]
